Will spring breakers vacation in Port Aransas? That’s the question business owners have been asking themselves for months trying to get ready for a spring break season while recovering from a devastating hurricane.

KRIS 6 News spoke with the restaurant manager of Moby Dick’s. They just re-opened and the manager says the spring break crowds are coming back.

“We didn’t know what to expect and here they are and we are really excited,” said Tracy Ellwood.Our news crew saw lots of people being seated before the lunchtime crowds hit.

“We need the revenue so bad and we’ve gone a long road and we’ve come along way and we are just excited to be back open and the island going again,“ said Elwood.

Hurricane Harvey the Moby Dicks restaurant, they had to close for six months for repairs. But the manager tells me she thinks this spring break will be a big success.

Matt Craine is the co-owner of Silver Sands vacation rentals. They rent out houses all over the Port Aransas area and own a golf cart rental business.

“We are running about 60% we have 135 to 140 properties up and available and we are sold out,” said Crane.

Crane says their business is even better than last year. He wonders if some folks are focusing on vacationing in Port Aransas to help the community recover.

In fact, KRIS 6NEWS ran into a couple from Pennsylvania. They said they came to Port Aransas because they wanted to help after hurricane Harvey.

Kina Kennedy is visiting from Fort Worth and picked Port Aransas because her granddaughter was born here. She experienced crowds of people visiting Port Aransas before she even got here. She said booking online was competitive, and she couldn’t get her first choice.

She is excited to show her granddaughter even when disaster strikes there is recovery.

The port Aransas chamber of commerce expects 90% of the business destroyed or damaged to be up and running by the summer.

All of these businesses re-opening means employees need to be hired. The Port A Chamber of Commerce will host its second job fair in April to help fill the positions and jumpstart the local economy.

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